BUSINESS COOPERATION 277 



it was easy to continue until a considerable portion of the all 

 too scanty capital was tied up in outstanding claims. A manager, 

 moreover, cannot be expected to be as careful about such things 

 as a proprietor, and in some cases losses were experienced from 

 " bad debts." On the whole it seems to be true that the cash 

 basis is the only safe one for cooperative enterprises. 



RESULTS 



The results of Grange cooperation can be divided into two 

 classes, the temporary and the permanent. The temporary 

 results are so obvious that they need only to be mentioned. 

 In the first place, the cooperative phase of the movement was 

 one of the principal causes of the rapid growth of the Grange 

 from 1873 to 1875; and, conversely, its failure to meet expecta- 

 tions was one of the principal causes of the rapid decline of the 

 order in the succeeding years. There can be no doubt that 

 hope of pecuniary profit was the motive factor in inducing 

 large numbers of farmers to join the Grange, and when their 

 extravagant expectations failed to be realized, most of them 

 ceased to pay dues. Secondly, it is perfectly clear that a very 

 considerable amount of money was saved to farmers as a result 

 of the business enterprises of the order. Even those who were 

 not members of the Grange or who never patronized a Grange 

 store or agency were benefited by the general reduction of prices 

 which was brought about by this new competitive force. What 

 the total amount of this saving was, it is impossible even to 

 estimate, but it certainly was vastly greater than the losses 

 sustained as a result of occasional failures or misplaced confidence. 



The permanent results of Grange cooperation are not quite 

 so tangible. On the whole, it seems to have taught a salutary 

 lesson to both farmers and merchants. The farmers learned 

 that the despised middlemen rendered some very important 

 services in the industrial organization and that if they were 

 going to dispense with these middlemen they must be prepared 

 to render the same services. The merchants and manufacturers, 

 on the other hand, discovered that the farmers were not entirely 

 helpless and that it was not wise to burden them with excessive 



